I guess few of us failed to notice that February 6 marked the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act which granted the vote to all men over the age of 21, but even more significantly extended the franchise to women as well. It still wasn’t universal of course (only two in every five women were entitled to vote), but it was a fantastic start and deserves to be remembered,

It got me thinking about some of the inspirational women I have met in my life. There’s my mother of course who ‘worked her socks off’ to ensure I had a better start in life than she’d had, and of course there’s the courageous lady I’m thrilled to call my wife who has kept me safe, secure and solvent ever since we met.

But there have been many others too. Women like Betty for example. She was on the leadership team of the first church I was responsible for. I will always remember the conversation we had about gay sex because it summed up everything that was good in her. Now the topic was clearly out of her comfort zone and she would not have agreed with those who argued in favour of it. But in spite of this she could still say ‘You’ve got to luv’um boy.’

In saying this, she was simply following the example of the Jesus she loved. We may disagree with someone else’s views of lifestyle and should be allowed to say so. But that is not enough. We should always speak the truth in love and Betty has been a constant reminder of this throughout my ministry. For God loves each one of us whoever we are whatever we have done. The biggest challenge comes in trusting that He loves us too much to let us stay as we are!

Jesus clearly understood this which is why He was prepared to challenge the people of His day, not least in their attitude to women. For we do well to remember that He lived and moved in a culture in which pious Jewish men would thank God that He had not made them Gentiles, slaves or (can you believe it?) women. Given this background it is easy to see that Jesus’ approach to was nothing short of revolutionary (even if His followers have not always followed His example).

We see it for example in the well-known story in which His good friend Martha complained that she was having to do all the housework while Mary was ‘sitting at His feet.’ We often miss the point here. When Jesus corrected Martha and told her that Mary had made the right choice He wasn’t excusing her laziness He was telling her that Mary may have flouted the social conventions of the day by joining the men in His discipleship class but He fully supported Her decision. Stories like this go a long way to explain why so many women enjoyed positions of leadership and responsibility in the early church.

And let’s not forget that it was ‘the women who come first to the tomb, who are the first to see the risen Jesus, and are the first to be entrusted with the news that he has been raised from the dead.’ In other words, they seemed to serve as ‘apostles to the apostles’ (N. T. Wright).

Never underestimate the importance of this apparently minor detail. For at that time, a woman had no right to bear witness; only in a few exceptional cases was her witness permissible. Given the historical background then, it is nothing short of remarkable that women played such a crucial role in the church’s claim that Jesus had conquered death. No one would have made it up and said: “We believe it because the women told us.” That would have been stupidity of the highest order. They said it because that’s exactly what happened.

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]